New Scientist have an interesting article about why there are so few female scientists. It's not all "about the babies" as they so tactfully put it:
"More than half of female scientists have experienced gender bias, according to a 2010 survey by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for L'Oréal. Examples include being ignored in meetings, students calling you Mrs. instead of Dr. or Professor, receiving unwanted comments on your appearance, and hearing that you were hired not on merit, but because you're a woman."
Of the crimes above, the one I most frequently encounter is not getting called Dr. I am NOT "Miss". It's wrong on 2 counts. I had a student who persisted in calling me "Miss" (with no surname) for 12 weeks. I think he thought he was at school. Did he call my male colleagues "Sir"? If so, he should have called me "Madam", dammit.
[Found this link on Mark Guzdial's blog]
I am a high school teacher in Texas, orginally from out of state. It was explained to me early in my career that Senorita was a higher term of respect than Senora, and that the direct English translation is Miss.
It has completely permanted Texas culture, I don't know about the rest of the country.
But it is fun to ask the students who "Missed me?"
Don't know if this explains your student's problem.
Posted by: Kathleen Weaver | May 26, 2011 at 03:18 PM
Intriguing! Actually I do recall from high school that all the female teachers were called "Miss" whether they were married or not. I have always assumed it was a mark of disrespect in central Scotland (rather than Texas) :-)
Posted by: Judy | May 26, 2011 at 03:22 PM
I call female superiors Sir, they often correct me and try to get me to call them Miss or Mrs. I'm not comfortable with pronouncing either (foreign background) so often use Ma'am instead but am worried that I sound like I've stepped out of a period piece.
In twenty years hopefully all the 'old boy' will have died out, although that isn't quite soon enough.
Posted by: Strepsil | May 26, 2011 at 07:00 PM
When I was at school we called married teachers "Miss" and unmarried teaches "Ms" and that was by their request. It seem to make sense at the time and I think the same rules still apply today.
Posted by: Steve Parry | May 27, 2011 at 08:55 AM
Unless they have a doctorate, of course. Do you think lady ministers have a similar problem with not being called Reverend?
Posted by: Judy | May 27, 2011 at 08:57 AM